Environment: Record C02 levels prompt meltdown alert

Scientists are worried about the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and how fast it continues to build without showing any sign of slowing, writes James Warner

SOMETHING happened on Earth on Thursday last that scientists believe the planet hasn’t experienced in as many as 5m years.

Atop the Mauna Loa Observatory on the Big Island of Hawaii, sensors tracking all the substances swirling around in Earth’s atmospheric soup are — for the first time — recording carbon dioxide at levels higher than at any time in human history.